


And all the world is calm

by nervousgaylaughter



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Childhood Friends, College, Cracklepop, Dancing, F/F, Fluff, Mini Pop, Pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-15
Updated: 2020-10-15
Packaged: 2021-03-08 00:02:43
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 15,038
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26926312
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nervousgaylaughter/pseuds/nervousgaylaughter
Summary: Modern AU for Cracklepop's Mini Pop Event!Beau was twelve years old when Yasha moved away and left her life forever. Or so she thought. She remembers their last conversation, "Until we dance again," Beau had said, but will that day ever come?
Relationships: Beauregard Lionett/Yasha
Comments: 8
Kudos: 96
Collections: Minipop





	1. So I bid my goodbye

**Author's Note:**

> Title of the fic as well as the chapter titles come from So Close, from the movie Enchanted.
> 
> Shoutout to my amazingly wonderful partner in this project, Llyl, without whom I would have had no motivation to finish. I'll link her art in the chapter notes at the end of the chapter it's related to (chapter 4)!

Beau was twelve years old when she was faced with the most difficult decision of her life. At least it felt like it at the time. Eventually there would be harder decisions, but the stakes at the sixth grade dance felt like life or death.

Yasha was sitting right next to her. Yasha who has been by her side for as long as she could remember. Yasha who is moving nearly 1,400 miles away tomorrow. Beau had to decide: to dance or not to dance with her best friend.

“Do you have to?” Beau blurts out mid thought. Anyone else wouldn’t be able to figure out what on Earth she was talking about, but Yasha knew the smaller girl all too well.

“You know I don’t have a choice Beau,” Yasha replied, “My dad is being transferred to Xhorhas.”

“I know but I wish you could stay here with me forever,” Beau said with a pout, finally looking into Yasha’s eyes. Even though she’s seen them a million times, Beau could never believe how beautiful they were.

_One is like a blue-green lake in the middle of a swamp, the other like the rare occasions when the sky would shine purple over the nearby mountains_ , Beau thinks to herself.

Just as Yasha is about to answer, Beau blurts out again, “You know your eyes are like diverse biodomes.”

Yasha paused for a few moments, staring back into Beau’s striking blue eyes. It’s rare that the girl ever let her nerdier side come out in public. Diverse biodome isn’t exactly a phrase anyone would expect to hear coming from Beau. To the rest of the kids, she was the one who didn't give a fuck about anything. Only Yasha was allowed into her mind, which was much brighter than she let anyone think.

“I mean, they’re certainly colorful,” Yasha responds.

“Wanna go dance?” Beau suddenly asks, trying to change the subject once again.

“I don’t think I know how,” Yasha protests, but Beau is already dragging her towards the cluster of middle schoolers.

“C’mon it’ll be fun,” Beau says as she realizes that the Cupid Shuffle is playing. “This song says the instructions for you, it’s perfect!”

Yasha nods, still looking insecure on the dance floor among her peers. Beau, ever observant, says, “Just look at me, they aren’t even here. Just you and me having fun on our last night together.”

“Yeah just you and me,” Yasha agrees while following along with the song.

They dance along until the song finally comes to an end. Yasha begins to make her way off the dancefloor, but Beau grabs her hand. 

“One more?” The girl pleads, and of course Yasha agrees. It’s not until then that they realize that the music has shifted moods. Now the song is more downtempo and many of the kids are now slow dancing together. Beau recognizes the song as _So Close_ , from Enchanted. It’s somewhat cheesy, but Beau secretly loves it.

“I definitely don't know how to dance to this, there’s no instructions,” Yasha says, looking at her feet.

“You got this, just follow my lead,” Beau responds, putting both hands on Yasha’s waist, her heart skipping a beat as her proximity to Yasha gets closer and closer.

Yasha looks around to her classmates, and mimics them, putting her hands on Beau’s shoulders. The girls sway together, managing to avoid eye contact, as both of their pulses rush faster than they ever had before. 

After getting into somewhat of a groove, Beau continues, “The good part is that there’s no right way to dance to this.”

“I do like this song, the strings are so pretty,” Yasha says sheepishly. 

“But you are too,” Beau replies without thinking, her face immediately turning red. Yasha smiles and Beau breaks her gaze away from her taller friend.

Beau had already come to terms with the fact that she liked other girls. It wasn’t a hard realization, she had never understood the way the other girls talked about boys. Her and Yasha never participated in those “girl talks.” They always had better things to talk about, at least that was what Beau used to think. She wonders if Yasha has come to a similar realization recently. The wonder becomes hope and Beau decides to distract herself from her own thoughts and focus on their dance. 

They sway awkwardly, not wanting to overwhelm themselves with the moment when Yasha breaks the silence.

“I’m glad you ditched that dress,” she says. Beau had been forced by her father to wear a yellow dress. She hated it, so naturally the crafty girl snuck a pair of gray slacks and a light blue button down in her bag and changed as soon as she arrived. Yasha was wearing a cute flowy black dress with a blue flower in her hair that Beau had picked for her earlier. 

“I’m glad you didn’t wear heels, you would’ve been a whole foot taller than me,” Beau chuckles back.

Yasha laughs and Beau is enchanted by the sound. The smaller girl wants nothing more than to see Yasha’s expression right now, but is too scared she can’t handle the intensity of Yasha’s gaze while so close together. She slowly begins to look up to Yasha. Her breath was taken away by the sight. Yasha was already looking down at her, and their eyes met. As Beau’s head lifted up, their noses brushed ever so gently together. Beau’s skin tingled at the contact and she could feel her cheeks blush. Yasha still hadn’t looked away from Beau. Suddenly it felt like it really was just them alone on the dance floor of the cafeteria. 

The eye contact became too much for her to handle so Beau decided to break the intensity and put her head on Yasha’s chest. She quickly realized this was no better. She could hear Yasha’s heartbeat going double time.

_Does she feel the same way?_ Beau wonders. _Wait, how do I feel?_

A rush of thoughts and emotions come flooding through Beau’s brain. How did she feel about Yasha? She knows she loves her best friend, but has that love become something more than just platonic? As Beau’s thoughts become more and more tangled, the song comes to an end and the girls separate. Yasha hasn’t stopped looking at Beau. They stand at an impasse for several moments, just staring at each other breathless, but not from the dancing. Their standstill is broken when a boy stumbles into Yasha from behind.

“Oops sorry dude,” the kid begins, but Yasha is already walking away, lost in thought. Beau follows her friend out of the cafeteria and into the courtyard outside. Yasha takes a seat on a bench nearby.

“Sorry Beau, uh, it was just getting a bit warm in there.”

“Yeah yeah yeah I was feeling it too,” Beau responds sitting next to Yasha.

“I… I’m really gonna miss you,” Yasha says, tears gathering in her eyes.

“This isn't goodbye forever,” Beau supplies, beginning to cry as well.

“We can’t afford to travel, I don’t know when I’ll be able to see you next.”

“Hopefully I can come to you if my dad ever ungrounds me.”

“You really shouldn't have punched that boy Beau,” Yasha says, smirking at the memory.

“He was being a creep to you Yash I couldn't just let him walk away without a black eye.”

Yasha and Beau laugh for a moment, trying to avoid the sadness of their situation.

“Stay out of trouble for me?” Yasha asks.

“I don't know if I can make that promise. I have been called a shithead on multiple occasions,” Beau jokes back.

“I know. But you're my shithead.”

They sit in silence for a while, enjoying each other’s presence. After a few minutes, Yasha gets a text and sighs.

“My dad is here,” Yasha says, knowing she leaves first thing tomorrow morning.

“But you can't go yet,” Beau says, finally allowing her emotions to run free. “We haven’t done so much, like we’re supposed to grow up together and-”

Yasha cuts Beau off, saying, “We will. I’ll always love you Beau.” Tears are streaming down both girls’ faces as Beau collapses into Yasha’s arms, her heart beating out of her chest. No one has ever made her feel this way before. Beau doesn’t really know what it means. 

“I’ll always love you too,” Beau says, holding Yasha tight, not knowing what kind of love Yasha was referring to. There’s a fine line between platonic love and something more, and it’s a fine line that Beau doesn’t understand quite yet. They stay in this position, holding each other until Yasha’s phone buzzes once again. She separates from the small girl shaking in her arms and begins to walk away.

Beau calls out after her, “Until we dance again,” and dramatically bows. 

Yasha is unable to form words as she curtsies back and leaves Beau’s view in the distance.

It begins to rain as Beau sits alone on the bench sobbing. She knows she’ll get her best friend back one day. Yasha owes her a dance and Beau will make sure it happens, no matter how long it might take. 


	2. And now you're beside me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jester needs a composer for her student film, and Executive Producer Beau has been chosen for the task. She reaches out to a local trio from their college, and doesn't know who to expect.

Beau is in her favorite spot in the library, a secluded corner with windows looking out into the courtyard, studying when she sees her best friend approaching out of the corner of her eye.

“Did you start looking for a composer yet?” The blue-haired girl asks way too loudly, immediately receiving shushes from the nearby students.

“Jester I told you I’m gonna do it later today,” Beau says, pulling her AirPods out of her ears.

“Ok but technically you were gonna do it yesterday and also the day before that and also-”

“I get the point,” Beau interrupts, “I’m sorry I’ve just been super busy studying for my exam.” She was very stressed out about her upcoming Board of Certification Exam. She has been pursuing her degree in athletic training for all her four years of college now (with a history minor, just for fun), but getting a job in the real world means she has to be certified. Not only was she scared about not passing and what those implications for her future would be, but she was scared of her future in general. She was a senior now at the University of Nicodranas, and life is about to begin. Beau isn’t sure she’s ready for that.

“I know and you’re gonna do great Beau,” Jester replies nonchalantly, as if Beau being successful was the most obvious thing in the world. The girl continues, “But Professor Brenatto is going to be really upset with me if I don’t get all these details worked out before we start filming. She didn’t want you to be my executive producer but I vouched for you.”

Beau nods in response and says, “I promise Jessie I’ll get it done today.”

“Thanks Beau. I’m going to meet up with Fjord now to run lines,” Jester says, already skipping away.

“You know one day we’re gonna have to talk about the fact that you hired your crush to play the leading lady's love interest,” Beau calls after the girl, getting hushed by the other students around.

“Can’t hear you, skipping,” Jester responds, receiving even more shushes.

“Well then can we talk about how you cast the leading lady as the girl he had a one night stand with?” Beau continues, not caring about the dirty looks she receives from her classmates.

“Nope!” Jester yells simply and exits the library.

Beau smirked to herself, putting her AirPods back in and returning to her studying. It wasn’t long until her mind began to wander to Jester’s movie. Her best friend slash roommate had begun writing her screenplay entitled, _Hello, Bees,_ about a year ago and she couldn't believe it was finally actually happening. The actors were cast, the cameras rented, and the crew hired. Beau even recruited her friend Caleb, an Computer Engineering Major who shared a history minor with Beau, to do the editing. That guy is a wiz with computers so Beau knows he’s the right person to create the special effects to meet Jester’s ambitious vision. All that was missing was the composer and the musicians to follow.

Minimizing her study guide, Beau searches Fiverr for a composer and sets the filters to locals only. The first few options that pop up don't seem quite right. _Hello, Bees_ is about imagination and the importance of the people in your life who you love, so the music needs to fit that theme. Electronic pop and cinematic orchestral scoring don’t fit the bill. 

Then, she comes upon a group called The Orphanmakers. Beau had assumed they would be a metal rock band, but what she finds instead surprises her. Not only did they have a member who is a composer, but they are a flute, harp, and viola trio. Beau doesn't know much about classical music, but she has a feeling those instruments together will fit Jester’s vision. 

Just as she’s about to contact them, Beau has a thought.

_What if these people aren’t musicians? What if they’re sinister criminals trying to rob or kidnap me?_ Before she can spiral on for too long, Beau stops herself. She knows it’s just her dad’s paranoia getting to her. Nonetheless, she creates an account under the name Traci. She sends a message to The Orphanmakers, requesting an in-person consultation so they can discuss the composition and recording process. Fiverr is a good way to find a freelancer, but this project is too important for only online communication. Luckily, the group is from the university too, so it shouldn't be too hard to meet up.

Beau gets back to her studies and grinds out a few more hours of work before she receives an email back from The Orphanmakers. It reads,

_Hi Traci,_

_I’m Janet, the composer and harpist for The Orphanmakers. This project seems like a lot of fun. I do admit I have never scored for a movie before, but I’ve always been interested in it, so if you’re willing to take a risk on me, I would appreciate it. Could we meet up on Friday at 3:00? The Shorthalt Music Building has a conference room we can use. It’s straight to the left once you enter the building. The whole group could be there and we can discuss the technicalities then._

_Best regards,_

_Janet_

Beau laughs at the ending of the email. She had always been fond of puns with her own name and “Best Regards” was no exception. As a kid, she would end her emails with “Beaust-regards,” which in retrospect makes no sense, but to her 10 year old brain it was killing two birds with one stone. Actually, when she really thought about it Best Beau-regards would have made this most sense.

Lost in the thoughts of her strange childhood mind, Beau takes out her phone and sends a text to Jester asking about the place and time. When her friend has no issues, she replies to Janet confirming the meeting.

With her producer duties being fulfilled, Beau packs up her laptop and heads back to her and Jester’s apartment for the night. The meeting with The Orphanmakers was only a few days away. She didn't know exactly why, but Beau felt anxious about it. It wasn't a nervous anxiety though, it was more anticipatory. She chalks it up to the excitement of her best friend’s movie finally coming to fruition, but her mind still races impatiently at the thought of the meeting soon to occur. 

* * *

_SHIT IT’S 3:05_ , Beau yells at herself. Time had completely gotten away from her in the library as she was researching the historical influence of Ancient Egyptian feminism on the modern day. Shorthalt Hall was a ten minute walk away, but Beau knew she could run it there in five. She quickly packs up her stuff and sprints to the arts side of campus.

_Shit shit shit what if they ARE criminals and now Jester is there all by herself and_ \- Beau cuts herself off again. _They’re literally just musicians I need to calm down_ , she thinks, pushing open the doors and bumping into a few wandering students on her way. She makes a left and all but leaps into the room, completely out of breath and leaning down into her knees.

“Beauregard?” Is the first thing she hears, but it’s not from Jester. It’s a voice that’s familiar, but distant in her memories. Beau immediately looks up and is met with multi-colored eyes, one blue-green and the other purple. Eyes she thought would only live in her memories for the rest of her life.

“Yasha?” Beau replies in shock, and jumps onto the conference table to get to Yasha.

“Beau get off the table what are you doing,” Jester says, not understanding her usually composed friend’s reaction, but Beau doesn’t care. She lands and perches in front of Yasha, bubbling with excitement.

It’s only then that Beau begins to comprehend the other people in the room. Jester is at one head of the table to the right, and two others are sitting on the sides of the table. One is a rather tall man with long pink hair, and the other individual has wild purple hair combed back. The one with the purple hair mutters, “See this is why we shouldn't allow non-music majors into the music building.”

The other man simply replies, “I thought we were meeting a Traci,” recognizing Beau from their Eastern Cultures class sophomore year. Beau isn’t paying them any attention though, she’s too occupied with Yasha’s presence.

“You go to University of Nicodranas?” Beau asks. She realizes it’s a stupid question, but is still too in shock to form truly coherent thoughts.

“Yeah I’m a double major Music Composition and Performance. I can’t believe you go here too. And that we haven't crossed paths yet,” Yasha responds, staring at the girl in front of her.

“I mean 60,000 kids go here, I'm not too surprised. I can’t believe you’re here in front of me. After you moved my dad confiscated my phone and then TJ destroyed it accidentally, so I had no way of contacting you.”

“We had to sell my phone after we moved, and there was barely any service in Xhorhas anyways, so I don't know if you would have been able to reach me regardless.”

“I think you mean Beau-regardless,” Beau replies, reminding both of them of one of the many Beau puns they used to make. “I’m really happy to see you Yasha,” Beau says.

“I’m happy to see you as well,” Yasha responds. The room sits awkwardly for a few moments until Jester breaks the silence, “Ohhhh Beau is this your friend that moved away in sixth grade?” She sounds innocent enough, but when Beau meets her friend’s gaze she sees the mischief in her eyes. Not only had Beau told Jester all about Yasha, but in retrospect, Beau now considers Yasha to be her first real crush on a girl. All of which Jester knows. 

Before Beau can respond, the person with the purple hair says, “Oh I get it now. Yash has told me about you before. Pleasure to meet you. The name’s Mollymauk Tealeaf and you can use whatever pronouns you please for me. My passion is the theatre, but I play viola with these lovely folks,” As he finishes his spiel, he extends his arm out to Beau who is still perched on the table. She slides off and takes the hand.

Yasha’s other friend introduces himself, “I’m Caduceus. Caduceus Clay. I am our resident flutist. I sat behind you in Eastern Cultures, but it’s a pleasure to officially meet you.” He nods towards Beau and she nods back.

“Oh, I remember you. Uh yeah, I’m Beau but I guess you already got that. Also I used Traci in the emails since I’m pretty wary about meeting people from the internet,” Beau says, answering Caduceus’s earlier statement.

Yasha chuckles lightly and says, “And I used Janet for the same reason, since your dad always lectured us about strangers online.”

“Yeah he’s still just as annoying as he was back then in case you were wondering,” Beau says looking back at Yasha. The girls stare at each other, taking each other in and observing how they’ve changed over the years. Yasha has retained her height on Beau and then some, she notices. And she got an arm sleeve tattoo of flowers and vines. Beau never thought Yasha would be the type to get one, she was always so gentle in her ways. Beau was eager to learn more about how her friend has changed in their years apart, but Jester brings them back on topic.

“So the movie,” the girl says, beginning to describe the plot and other aspects of her film. Yasha is taking notes as Jester describes her vision, but Beau is just looking at Yasha, not listening at all. After about an hour or so, Jester laid out all her plans and Yasha has thrown out some ideas she has for the scoring. They call the meeting to an end as everyone begins to pack up their things.

Beau pulls Jester aside and says, “Hey, you can head back to the apartment, I wanna talk to Yasha some more.”

“Ooooh okaaaay have fuuun,” Jester says sing-songy and wiggles her eyebrows. Beau rolls her eyes at her friend’s teasing and turns around to Yasha.

“I can’t believe you’re real,” Yasha says once everyone had left the room.

“Yeah I really thought I had lost you forever.”

“Did you stay out of trouble for me?” Yasha says with a grin, remembering their final conversation.

“I would say yes but in fourth grade I promised to never lie to you so…” Beau replies trailing off with a mischievous smirk.  
  


“Well you couldn’t have gotten in too much trouble, you made it here after all.” Yasha says, gesturing around the room.

“Yeah only because my dad sent me off to the Cobalt Soul Academy after I got caught stealing,” Beau says as she takes a seat on the table.

“You started stealing things?” Yasha questions, following Beau and sitting on top of the table.

“I mean is it technically stealing if it was from my dad?” Beau asks, pausing for a moment to read Yasha’s expression. She didn’t receive the look of disappointment that she was used to from so many others. Instead, Yasha seemed genuinely concerned, and a bit curious.

“Me and my uh… my girlfriend Tori started pawning off his wine at half price to keep the money for ourselves. When the cops caught us we spent a night in jail. My dad bailed me out and sent me off to the Academy. I never saw Tori again.”

“Beau that’s horrible, I’m so sorry,” Yasha says, grabbing her friend’s hand for comfort. She hasn’t seen Yasha in almost 10 years now, but Beau still feels the same rush of emotions at the contact. Her pulse immediately begins beating faster and Beau looks down to their joined hands.

“It is what it is,” Beau says with a shrug, “I hated it there at first, but eventually I got a teacher who understood me better. They pushed me and I pushed back, but it worked. They got me here so it all worked out I guess.”

“It did. If that’s what it took to get us to meet again, albeit much later, I’m glad things turned out this way.”

“Me too,” Beau replies, looking at her phone, “Shit I have a study group with Caleb in 20 minutes, can we hang out sometime?”

“I would like that very much,” Yasha says with a smile.

“Here gimme your phone,” Beau says and Yasha hands it over. She quickly types in her number and makes her contact name “Your Shithead.” She hands the phone back to the taller girl and begins to make her way out of the room.

“I’ll text you later,” Yasha calls after the girl who is already barreling down the hallway. When she notices the contact name, she can’t help but laugh and smile, her heart warming at the fond memories of their shared childhoods.

* * *

 _Only one more hour_ , Beau thinks to herself. It’s been one day since she reunited with Yasha. Both girls were busy on Saturday, so they agreed to meet up for coffee on Sunday at noon. She woke up at 6:00am for her early workout with Fjord, and she hasn’t stopped thinking about Yasha since.

She’s in her favorite library spot, not focused on her homework at all. She stares at a blank google doc, her leg shaking vigorously as her eagerness builds and builds and builds. She checks her phone every few minutes, hoping to see a text from Yasha but also anxious that a text would mean she was cancelling.

It’s finally 11:50, and the Concord Coffeehouse was a 15 minute walk away. Beau knew she could make it there in time, she could probably even be a few minutes early, but she decided to show up fashionably late as to not look as eager as she felt.

_Gotta keep my cool façade somehow_ , Beau thought to herself, though Yasha was always able to see through it.

She remembers what that first year of middle school was like. In elementary school, things were different. It was just her and Yasha, doing whatever they wanted, without a care in the world. They played pretend at recess some days and in the dirt on others, and nobody gave a shit either way. Not in middle school. Middle school was eat or be eaten. Beau decided she would be the big man on campus, but that meant sometimes Yasha would fall behind. Her friend was always quiet, but the transition into becoming pre-teens exacerbated their differences. Beau was loud, constantly got in trouble, and became one of the popular girls. Yasha was quiet, kept to herself, but never truly left Beau’s side.

Beau vividly remembers their conversation when Yasha told her about the move.

_Yasha was pushing Beau on the swing set in her backyard when she decided to break the news._

_“You know Beau you don’t have to be friends with those girls. I know you don’t actually like them and I know you hate when they play dress up in you,” Yasha said._

_“I don’t not like them,” she responded looking at the moving ground below her._

_“I just want you to be happy.”_

_“I’m happy when I’m here with you.”_

_“But what about when I’m not here.”_

_“Even if you’re not next to me you’re always with me in spirit.”_

_“No Beau you don’t-“_

_“Yash you’re my best friend I-“_

_“I’m moving to Xhorhas.”_

_In that moment it felt like Beau’s world shattered to pieces. She instantly regretted all the stupid hours spent with her other friends that could have been spent with Yasha. The pain and anger started to build inside her, but she wasn't mad at Yasha, not even as a scapegoat. She could never resent Yasha, but she could resent herself._

Beau is pulled out of her memories when a car comes to a screeching halt a foot away from her. She hadn’t even noticed she was jaywalking. She lifts an apologetic hand to the screaming and honking man in the car and breaks into a sprint towards the coffee shop.

She does attempt to recover her cool as she reaches the front of the store. She takes a few moments to breathe and smooth over her hair before pulling open the door. The smell of roasting beans and sweet muffins fills her nose as she scans the room for her friend. She eventually notices Yasha at a booth in the far back, next to a window looking out into a greenhouse. 

She strides up to the table in her usual swagger and slides into the seat across from Yasha.

“Hey sorry I’m late-"

“No you’re not,” Yasha interrupts with a grin. Beau is used to people being vaguely annoyed with her tardiness, but the girl across from her just looks entertained. She continues, “I see you haven’t grown out of being fashionably late.”

“What?” Beau says unconvincingly. They stare at each other at a stalemate for several moments until Beau concedes, “Ok fine maybe I still show up late on purpose to look cool and pretend like I wasn’t sitting at the library for an hour just watching the seconds tick by.” She shocks herself with her own vulnerability. She forgot how easy it was to be her true, somewhat dorky, self with Yasha. Yasha however, does not look surprised.

“You know in my high school orchestra we had a saying. Early is on time. On time is late. Late is fatal.”

“Damn we’re jumping straight to fatal? Did you go to a branch of the Cobalt Soul Academy too?”

“No, but somewhere just as strict I’m sure.”

“What was it?”

“I went to the Dolorav Preparatory Academy. They were very rigid in how things were run. Boys and girls had separate classes and could only meet during lunch and the occasional school dance. We had a strict uniform, if your skirt was a centimeter too short, you were suspended for the day.”

“Oh my gods they sound like even bigger assholes than the monks at my school.”

“Your teachers were monks?”

“Yeah they had like this hippie philosophy to learning that combined the mind with the soul it was weird but effective. I still rebelled whenever I could though.”

“I’m sure you went against the man as much as possible,” Yasha begins.

“Oh Yash, I am the man,” Beau interrupts with a joking arrogance to the statement.

Yasha continues, “But would it surprise you to find out that I did some rebelling myself?” She asks with a mischievous grin.

“You, Yasha Nydoorin, goody two shoes extraordinaire, rebelled?”

Yasha nods and Beau was genuinely shocked at this revelation. Even back in kindergarten, when neither of them could understand the consequences of their actions, Beau was the troublemaker and Yasha was the example kid. She is caught wondering what possibly could have been so bad that it made her gentle and demure friend fight back. 

“Well you know I think there’s a… fundamental issue when you separate boys and girls. They don’t take certain things into account,” Yasha says looking down at the table, picking at the placemat. It’s then that the waiter decided to come and take their orders.

Beau orders a Green Protein Smoothie for herself and Yasha orders an Earl Gray tea. Beau laughs at the fact that they chose to come to a coffee shop, and neither of them ordered a coffee.

As soon as he leaves, Beau looks back to Yasha ready to inquire more about her high school days. What did she mean by issues separating the genders? Did she have a secret boyfriend that she would sneak off to go meet? Or did she have a secret girlfriend? Maybe she wasn’t in any relationship at all and the girls were receiving a lesser education? All these thoughts are running through her head as Yasha begins to speak, “So what about you? What have you been up to in the past 10 years?” 

Beau wants to change the topic back to Yasha, but knows that it always took a lot for her friend to open up. She doesn’t want to push her on their first day reunited. She knows they will hang out again, and the mysteries of Yasha's past will soon come to light. She just has to tell herself to be patient and trust that Yasha will tell her everything when she’s ready.

The two long lost friends spend hours in their booth catching up. They talk about their new friends, friends that became old friends, the classes they took in high school, the classes they have taken here at university, and just about everything else in between. The only topic that isn’t broached at all is either of their love lives. Beau feels like that’s a topic for another day, as getting into her time with Tori would dampen the mood. She didn’t want to spoil the happy feeling that came with finally spending time with Yasha again. 

By the time they finally stop chatting to catch a breath, Beau looks around the shop and notices everyone else is gone. She looks at her watch and sees that it’s 3:55. They had been here for almost four hours and the place is closing in 5 minutes.

“Shit Yasha this place is closing,” Beau says gesturing around the room.

“Oh wow I didn’t even realize we had been here so long.”

“Me neither,” Beau replies, as they sit at the booth, not wanting their day together to be over. Beau continues, “I missed you so much. I think, and don’t hate me for saying this, but at first it hurt like hell when you left. I felt broken. But then I got better, I thought I had moved on. Now I’m realizing I never really did, there’s been a you sized hole in me and I’m really glad you’re back in my life,” Beau says, not making eye contact with Yasha. Her eyes would render Beau completely useless in the mushy state she was already in.

“First off, I could never hate you Beau. And second, I feel the exact same way. I thought I could shove other people into your spot, but they never fit quite right. I’ve missed you so much,” Yasha says, grabbing Beau’s hands on the table. When they make eye contact again, Beau loses all her breath. It is literally only them in the coffee shop right now, but Beau swears they’re the only people in the entire world. She is completely lost in Yasha’s eyes until her own eyes start to drift lower. She’s staring at Yasha’s lips and she swears Yasha is staring at hers.

Of course this is the moment that the waiter with the worst timing shows up with the check.

“Uh sorry ladies but we’re closing in two minutes.”

Beau rips her gaze away from Yasha and grabs the check. Even though the waiter completely ruined their moment, she still tips him 20%.

“Wait where’s my check?” Yasha asks, but the waiter has already left.

“It’s no biggie Yash I got it,” Beau says, pulling out her credit card.

“Beau you really don’t have to-“

“Please let me. My dad sends me $50 a week to try and repay for all the neglect or whatever,” she says nonchalantly.

“Beau that’s not funny,” Yasha replies, genuinely concerned.

“I know, but if I don’t laugh about it I’ll just be sad. And that’s no fun.”

Conceding the argument for now, Yasha sighs and follows Beau out of the building.

“I had a lot of fun catching up with you Beau.”

“Same here. When can I see you again?”

“This week is a bit busy for me. I have quite a lot of practicing and homework to do.”

“We can do homework together!” Beau suggests, almost shouting with excitement.

“I can’t exactly bring my harp to the library.”

“I can come to the music building. It’s no biggie I can sit on anything.”

“You know we have chairs right?”

“Yeah but y'all have like the super uncomfy stiff ones.”

“No those are just the cello chairs.”

“You guys have specific chairs for every instrument?”

“No just the cellos have a special chair, you know, nevermind,” Yasha laughs. The back and forth banter reminds them of their younger days, when Beau would be antagonistic on purpose just to get Yasha to talk more. 

Yasha begins again, "Ok so a study date tomorrow night? I practice in Shorthalt 113.”

Beau barely registers the room number as her brain only focused on the word “date.” She knows people use 'date' all the time casually, heck Jester does it all the time, but something about Yasha saying it makes her heart start to beat faster. 

“Yeah yeah yeah cool cool cool tomorrow that’s good with me,” Beau manages to stutter out.

“Alright,” Yasha says looking entertained by Beau’s flustered reaction, “See you then,” she says walking off to her car in the parking lot and waving goodbye. Beau walked here and doesn’t really feel like walking back, but she doesn’t want to ask Yasha for a ride just yet. She might short circuit if she spends one more moment with the girl. So she strolls back to her apartment, lost in thoughts of Yasha, but not acknowledging how deep those thoughts go.


	3. The music playing on for only two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yasha and Beau decide to start studying together, and late night study sessions means late night conversations.

The girls study and practice together practically every night. Even Caleb has started to notice.

_“Beauregard, you have been bailing on our study group, is everything alright?” He asks her one day in their shared Western History class._

_“Yeah, I’ve just been doing independent study,” she easily lies. It’s not that she doesn't trust Caleb, it’s just that she likes having Yasha all to herself. It feels as if talking about it, actually saying it out loud, would break their bubble together._

Not even Jester pushes Beau to talk about it. Not yet at least, Beau knows it’s only a matter of time before her friend starts pestering her to spill the beans about Yasha, but Beau appreciates Jester keeping it low-key for now.

The issue is, Beau wouldn’t even know what to say about Yasha. Does she love spending time with her? Of course. Does she think about Yasha and only Yasha on the nights they don’t hang out? Yeah. Does she feel happier when Yasha is around? Sure. But this is a normal feeling when you get your best friend back after twelve years. At least that’s what Beau tells herself.

They still haven't broached the topic of past relationships yet. Everything feels so delicate right now, Beau doesn’t want to ruin what they have by pushing Yasha if she’s not ready. She’s still too confused herself to know if she wants more with Yasha. 

* * *

It’s a few minutes past eleven at night when Yasha decides to take a break from studying and start practicing her harp. Beau has been attempting to study but instead has let herself get completely distracted by Yasha’s presence in the room. By now she has squirmed out of the desk and onto the floor, and Yasha has taken notice.

“You know there’s a chair right there Beau,” Yasha says, entertained by the girl’s antics.

“The floor is actually pretty fuckin' comfy, maybe more so than the chair.”

“That may be true but it doesn’t change the fact that wind players use this room to practice.”

“So? Are you prejudiced against them or something?”

“No but they have spit valves and they just release it all onto the floor whenever they want.”

Beau is immediately grossed out, but is far too stubborn to move. So, she stays still, shocked in disgust, and Yasha just laughs at the girl's disposition.

Yasha is playing something different tonight. She’s been noodling around working on composing a score for Jester’s film, but now she’s playing a piece that Beau doesn’t think she composed.

It has a melancholy melody, it makes Beau yearn for something that she doesn't think she's ever had. Beau doesn’t have any formal training in classical music, but she thinks this might be the prettiest music she’s ever heard. Yasha plays for five minutes, maybe six, with her eyes closed, just being absorbed in the music. She doesn’t have any music in front of her, and for those several minutes, Yasha and the music become a single entity. Beau is completely enthralled by the girl in front of her. This might be the most beautiful music she’s ever heard, but this is definitely the most beautiful thing she’s ever seen.

The piece ends in a more contemplative manner, leaving Beau wanting more, but being ever so grateful for the music while it lasted. She didn't dare talk first, being too scared to shatter the beauty of the moment. She looks at Yasha’s face. The taller girl has now opened her eyes, and is slumped down into her chair, staring at her harp, barely breathing.

Yasha is the first to break the silence, “That was called Nocturne. Composed by Alan Hovhaness.”

“Oh. Cool.” Is all Beau can say in response, sensing that there’s more that Yasha wants to say.

“It was Zuala’s favorite. She asked me to play it for her all the time.” Yasha pauses for a moment, finally making eye contact with Beau.

“Zuala,” Beau says, “Who is she?”

“She was my girlfriend. I thought I was gonna marry her someday,” Yasha responds, grief ridden on her face.

“What happened?”

“We were in a car crash senior year of high school. We made it through all four years dating, under the radar, but fighting for the chance to be _us_ under the radar. It was a few weeks before prom, and I was driving us to go look at dresses. I was making a left turn and a car came speeding through a red light and it hit her side. The whole car flipped, but she took the brunt of the blow. I was pinned down and I couldn’t reach her or save her. By the time the paramedics arrived, she wasn’t breathing anymore.”

Yasha took a long, shaky breath. Beau immediately reaches out to grab her hand.

“Yash,” Beau begins, “I’m so sorry. I hate that you had to go through that.”

“It has… pained me for a long time. It still hurts, I don’t know if it’ll ever stop hurting, but for a long time I let the grief hold me back. I don’t want to be chained back anymore,” Yasha says, looking away from Beau back towards her harp.

A few moments pass, both girls silent but feeling comforted just by the other’s presence.

Beau breaks the silence this time, “You remember my girlfriend Tori I mentioned?” Yasha nods and Beau continues, “It’s not the same or comparable by any means, and honestly I didn't see myself marrying her, but I do know what it’s like to have someone ripped away from you. I guess I just want you to know, I get it.”

“Thank you Beau. I’m sorry to bring the mood down tonight. I’ve been meaning to tell you about her and us, but Nocturne came to me tonight and I knew I had to tell you.”

“I’m glad you did. We’ve both become very different people in the past decade. I want to know it all,” Beau says sheepishly.

“I want to know just as much about you too, Beau.”

They’re still holding hands, and neither wants to stop, so they don’t. Beau goes back to (pretending) to read her book, staring at the words, but Yasha keeps looking at Beau for several more moments. Realizing she can’t exactly play harp with one hand, Yasha goes back to composing, enjoying the presence of the smaller girl next to her.

* * *

When Beau gets home around one in the morning, Jester notices a difference in the girl’s demeanor.

“Why do you look like that?” Jester asks bluntly.

“Why do I look like what?” Beau asks back, feigning innocence.

“You know, you’re acting all goofy. You’re walking with no direction, which is not like you at all, you’re always running somewhere, and you have this stupid smile on your face,” Jester says, leaping towards Beau and poking her face.

“What Jess I can’t be goofy sometimes?”

“OH MY GOD DID YOU FINALLY KISS YASHA?” Jester screams.

“No what do you mean finally kiss Yasha what... why would I... what?” Beau stutters out, completely flustered.

“Oh my god Beau I’ve been trying so hard to ignore your crush and leave you alone but now it’s just sad.”

“What no Jess I don’t have a crush on Yasha. She was my best friend for years, obviously I care about her a lot.”

“Mhm… well on a totally unrelated note you know how we’re filming the nightclub scene this weekend?”

“Yeah?” Beau asks suspiciously.

“Well, Professor Brenatto is gonna be there so it needs to be perfect and basically we don't have enough extras so I’m officially casting you and Yasha as extras in the club,” Jester says with a smile and before Beau even has time to protest or comment, Jester is hopping away to her room for the night.

_Well,_ Beau thinks to herself, _All things considered, Yasha does owe me a dance._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is going to have a bonus art piece from Llyl sometime soon! I'll post the link here when it happens!


	4. Waiting here with you

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Beau doesn't know what dancing with Yasha, in a club nonetheless, will do to her.

The anticipation of filming the nightclub scene is getting to Beau. She feels like she’s been vibrating with anxiety and excitement since Jester “cast” her and Yasha two nights ago.

Not only will she be dancing with Yasha. But it’s _club_ dancing. Beau has been club dancing many times in her life and she always ends up going home with whatever girl she was dancing with. It’s the nature of clubs. She’s scared of what dancing with Yasha like that will do to her.

Now it’s Saturday and she’s in the University of Nicodranas charter bus with all the cast and crew of “Hello, Bees” on a four hour drive to Hupperdook Nightclub. Even Caduceus and Molly came along, to work as extras as well.

Of course Yasha is her bus buddy. Jester made sure of it by assigning everyone seats like they were in elementary school, as if Beau wouldn’t have willingly sat next to Yasha. Although, she must admit she’s been somewhat avoiding the girl for the past two days. She made study plans with Caleb instead of doing her usual nightly hangout study sesh in Shorthalt. Seeing Yasha with the knowledge that they would have to be so close together in only a few days would have overwhelmed her, and frankly Beau didn't feel like thinking about what that really meant.

So, she’s been avoiding her feelings and avoiding Yasha. Oops. Luckily Yasha hasn’t brought it up yet. Beau only hopes Yasha doesn't think she’s been avoiding her because she had learned about Zuala.

They chat it up for the first few hours of the trip, Beau sharing stories she’s heard about what happens in Hupperdook and Yasha sharing stories about the forbidden parties they would throw in Iothia. Jester keeps looking backwards from her seat next to Fjord, wiggling her eyebrows at Beau whenever Yasha looks away. The conversation comes to a lull, and Yasha takes this as her chance.

“Beau,” she begins, “Why haven’t I seen you the past few days? Did I make you uncomfortable with what I shared?”

Beau’s fears are confirmed with Yasha’s statement. _Idiot_ , she thinks, _I should’ve thought about how that would look coming from her side earlier._

“No Yash, not at all. I’m really glad you did and that you felt comfortable telling me. My certification exam is coming up soon so I just wanted to grind out some studying. Not that I don't study when we’re together, but I guess... I just mean I like letting you distract me,” she supplies, blushing slightly, simultaneiusly lying and telling the truth.

It looks as if Yasha already knows that Beau is telling a little white lie, but she lets it go, saying, “I like letting you distract me too, I do admit I have composed a bit more than usual in the past two days.”

Beau smiles, and they both become quiet for a few moments.

“Yash?” Beau asks, and Yasha looks over at and makes eye contact with the girl in response. Beau is taken aback by the multi-colored eyes meeting her gaze for probably the thousandth time in her life. Every time, they’re just as strikingly beautiful, and every time they take Beau’s breath away.

“Uh if you want, it’s totally cool if you don’t, but you could talk about Zuala more with me? I know sharing memories of people we love can be therapeutic in a way, and if you think you would like that, I’m here to listen.”

“Thank you Beau, I think I would like that a lot,” Yasha says in a nostalgic tone with a smile on her face.

Yasha talks about her time with Zuala for the rest of the bus ride, from mundane stories of them in class together, to them almost getting caught making out in the bathroom. Beau has to remind herself that Yasha has changed and grown since the sixth grade, she’s no longer docile, now she has a recklessness within her that Beau can’t help but be attracted to.

_Wait,_ she thinks to herself, _attracted to? Am I attracted to Yasha? Fuck fuck fuck,_ but her thoughts are cut off my Jester’s booming voice over the bus’s loudspeakers.

“Hello everybody, welcome to Hupperdook! We’re at the hotel right now so I can bring everyone their outfits and then go straight to the club so we can start blocking. After we finish blocking the night is your! We will start filming tomorrow morning before the club actually opens. Your roommate is your bus buddy and Professor Brenatto has the keys,” the peppy girl finishes her spiel and jumps out of the bus.

“Well,” Beau says to Yasha, “Here we fuckin' go!”

“Here we go indeed,” Yasha agrees, following Beau off the bus.

They end up on the ninth floor in room nine. _A weird coincidence_ , Beau thinks, but heads into the room regardless. The very first thing she notices is that there is only one bed. _What the fuck Jester, this has to be on purpose._ She’s somewhere between pissed at Jester and excited at the prospect of being so close to Yasha. The intimacy still scares her though, especially with the implications of her potential feelings.

“Well looks like we’re sharing the bed,” Yasha says, seemingly unbothered, “Left or right?”

“Um uh yeah yes… wait what?” Beau stutters out, completely flustered.

Yasha chuckles and responds, “I asked which side of the bed you would like?”

“Oh um left is good with me.”

It’s then that there’s a knock at the door. Beau rushes over to open it so she doesn’t have to look at Yasha’s smug grin and get even more flustered, and reveals a bubbling Jester on the other side.

“Ok so I picked out these outfits especially for you, I hope you like them, I think they’re pretty cool,” she says, shoving the clothing bags into Beau’s arms and immediately running off.

Beau calls after her, “Thanks Jess!”

She’s about to open both bags when Yasha grabs her hand to stop her.

“Hey it’s a surprise,” Yasha says.

“What’s a surprise?” Beau asks, genuinely confused.

“The outfit reveals. We can’t see each other in our outfits until we start filming.”

“What, like we’re getting married or something?” Beau asks, not at all thinking about her words and immediately blushing when she does.

“Not necessarily,” Yasha says, still keeping her cool, but looking at Beau intently, “But it’ll be fun.”

“Ok sounds good I guess,” Beau says, still recovering from her previous statement.

They both head next door to the club to start blocking. It takes a little over an hour and they end up in the background, a bit back and to the left of Fjord and Avantika.

“So why did Jester cast Avantika as the lead of all people?” Yasha asks as they stand in their spot together.

“Oh don’t even get me started,” Beau says, “So Jessie cast Avantika before she and Fjord slept together, because she genuinely was the best actor that auditioned, but it’s super weird now because Jess totally has a huge and obvious crush on Fjord. Well, she used to be obvious, she’s kinda calmed down with it since the one night stand.”

“Hm,” Yasha responds, “Well, that’s a bit messy.”

“Yuup,” Beau answers, watching Fjord and Avantika, “She is talented though. This character is nothing like her actual personality, but she pulls it off really well.”

“I see. I wish Jester would just tell Fjord how she feels,” Yasha says, staring at Beau.

Beau continues, not looking at Yasha, “Yeah, but she thinks it’ll mess up the vibe of the movie. This project means everything to her and she doesn’t want her feelings to fuck it up.”

“It’s good to remember though,” says a voice from behind them, “That patience can curdle into apathy.”

Beau turns around and sees Caduceus behind them, who was apparently listening in on the conversation.

“What the fuck Cad why are you eavesdropping?” Beau demands.

“I don’t mean to, it just happens when you have good ears and people aren’t whispering,” he says with a shrug, but looking at Yasha instead of Beau. He continues, “One should always keep moving forward,” and walks away.

Beau finally looks to Yasha who has just begun to blush. Beau doesn’t quite understand why, but shakes it off and focuses back on Jester who has begun giving instructions.

“Ok everybody we’re done with blocking, everyone is free until tomorrow at 9am sharp, thank you!” She shouts through the megaphone.

Yasha and Beau hang back in the club, waiting for Jester to finish her directorial duties. Once she’s done, Beau goes up and asks, “What’s the plans for tonight?”

“What do you mean? There’s nothing left to do,” Jester says, looking through her agenda on her clipboard worriedly.

“Noooo,” Beau responds, “Let’s go out! Have some fun! We’re in Hupperdook and you know what they say?”

“What happens in Hupperdook stays in Hupperdook,” Yasha supplies proudly from behind Beau, remembering their conversation about the wild city earlier.

“But Beau tomorrow is a really big day for me I should check that everything is ready and get some rest-”

“Or,” Beau says, cutting her off, “You go to a bar with your friends because you’ve been working so hard.”

“But Professor Brenatto will be so disappointed if-”

Jester is cut off again, but this time it’s not Beau, “The girl is right Jester,” Professor Brenatto says, walking up, “And you’re nearly graduated, you can call me Veth.”

“See!” Beau boasts pointing to Veth.

“Okaaay, but I’m not drinking,” Jester agrees, looking nervously at Veth.

“I’ll text the squad,” Beau says, making a group chat for all their shared friends. She does miscount thought and names the group The Mighty Nein, taking the German spelling from Caleb.

“Were you already drunk when you made the chat? There are eight of us and you spelled the German for no?” Caleb would ask her later, but Beau didn’t care nor did she have an explanation, she was ready to have a great time.

* * *

They end up at The Blushing Tankard, which is allegedly the best bar in town. On the way there, Beau notices a vendor on the street selling flower necklaces. She doesn’t know why, but she makes a note of this in her head.

The rest of the night is a blur. Beau has some memories of arm-wrestling Veth, and Veth winning. She was shocked that the tiny woman could beat her, and needing to save face Beau looked to Yasha and said, “I’m more into the endurance type of training.”

At one point, she notices Yasha and Jester having a hushed conversation, but before her intrigue can grow, Caleb hands her another shot to do with him, Molly, and Fjord. By the time she downs it, the thought was long gone from her mind.

She also vaguely remembers the idea of Beau opening a bar being thrown around. They came up with several puns, but the clear winner came from Jester with “The BeaureBar.”

The only other clear memory from the bar is when the fireworks went off. Caduceus was the first to notice the sounds of the initial smaller ones going off in the night sky. The rest of the bar, locals, Beau assumed, seemed unbothered. But the group of eight tourists rarely got to see fireworks so they rushed outside to witness the spectacle of light in the sky.

Beau had seen fireworks once before. What she had never seen, something she only had once chance to see, was Yasha’s reaction to seeing them for the first time.

The group is lying down on the sidewalk outside the bar, looking at the sky, but Beau is just looking at Yasha. She looks enchanted by the sky above her. Beau doesn’t think she’s seen Yasha look this at peace since the sixth grade. She carries a weight with her, rightfully so, but Beau is glad to see that Yasha is looking a bit lighter in this moment.

They stumble their way back to the hotel. Beau is completely wasted and relying on Yasha to help her through.

“Yash, you’re so… you’re so great,” Beau says, slurring her words as they travel up the elevator together.

“You’re pretty great too,” Yasha says. They’re both blushing, and Beau doesn’t know whether it’s from the alcohol or from their proximity to each other.

They manage to safely get back into room 9 and Beau immediately falls onto the bed. Shortly, after Yasha lies right next to her.

Suddenly, Beau’s head is much clearer. She had forgotten about the single bed situation. If she had remembered, she might not have gotten as drunk, out of the fear of doing something stupid in her intoxicated state. She lies like a statue, unmoving, not touching Yasha.

“Beau,” Yasha begins. Beau looks at her wide eyed and Yasha continues, “Why are you being weird.”

“I don’t know what you mean,” Beau says, clearly knowing what she means.

“We slept in the same bed together all the time for sleepovers.”

Beau wants to protest, but doesn’t trust her drunken words enough. She wants to say, “Yeah but it’s different now,” but that would require her to explain how and why it’s different. She doesn’t understand her feelings just yet, and she definitely doesn’t understand them drunk. So, instead of protesting and revealing something she isn’t ready for yet, she simply says, “Good point,” and relaxes her body. 

Yasha chuckles at the girl’s antics and extends out her arm for Beau to lie on. It reminds them of when they were kids, and Yasha would comfort Beau and hold her as she cried about the way her father treated her.

It’s an odd type of nostalgia, but Beau immediately melts into Yasha’s arms, getting closer than she would have if she were sober, and quickly falling asleep.

* * *

Yasha’s alarm was set for 7:00 AM, giving them plenty of time to wake up. Beau immediately groans at the sound, already feeling her hangover setting in, 

“Whyyy,” she begins to moan, pulling a pillow over her head.

“Beauregard,” Yasha says in a jokingly stern manner, “It’s time to get up. We have to film in two hours.”

“Just… one more… hour,” Beau says, sleepily cuddling into Yasha without realizing it.

“Ok,” Yasha concedes, “We can take another few minutes,” and she lies back down next to the smaller girl in her arms.

Yasha lets another thirty minutes go by until she gets up, making sure to escape Beau’s grasp. Beau once again groans at the prospect of getting up, so Yasha brings her two Advil's and some water.

“Do you not get hangovers or something,” Beau asks, removing the pillow from her head.

“I do, I just didn’t drink nearly as much as you last night,” Yasha supplies.

Once Beau finally rolled out of bed, Yasha says, “You have to change first so I know you won’t peak at what I’m wearing.”

“Ughh fine,” Beau says heading into the bathroom.

She opens the bag Jester had given her and was pleasantly surprised by what she saw. Jester had given her black ripped skinny jeans, a short sleeve white button down, and a nice black bra to go underneath. At the bottom of the bag is a nice pair of strappy heels, only about two inches high. Beau puts on her ensemble, leaving most of the buttons undone and the shirt tucked into her pants, and puts on some mascara and eyeliner. She doesn’t like overdoing the makeup, she’s always thought simpler was better. She left her hair in its usual topknot, but redid the braid to catch the fly away hairs.

As she’s about to exit the bathroom, she calls out to Yasha, “I’m coming out now, close your eyes.”

“I thought you said you came out in the ninth grade?” Yasha jokes back.

Beau exits the bathroom and sees Yasha, face down on the bed. She never was one to cheat. Beau, attempting to retain some of her composure for the day, cheekily responds, “I almost came out to you at the sixth grade dance, but that’s a story for another time.”

“What-” Yasha begins, but Beau had already left the room.

* * *

It’s been 20 minutes and still no sign of Yasha in the nightclub. Beau is getting impatient. Just as she’s about to text Yasha, checking to see if everything is ok, the girl comes rushing in. Beau tries to take in her whole look, but as soon as Yasha finds Beau, she grabs her and pulls her into the bathroom.

“Beau, I need your help.”

“What yeah yeah yeah, wh- wh- what is it?” Beau manages to say, composure completely gone, her heart skipping a beat.

Yasha is wearing denim skinny jeans as well, but not ripped, a white fitted tank top, and a leather jacket over it. Yasha is also wearing two inch high heels, maintaining their height difference. Her hair is down, which Beau doesn’t see often, and she’s wearing blue eyeshadow and eyeliner. _She’s stunning_ , is all Beau can think. Apparently Yasha’s mind isn't too far off from Beau's.

“You look incredible Beau,” Yasha says, completely distracted from whatever she had needed.

“Th- thanks you look incredible as well.”

They spend a few moments in silence taking each other in, until Beau says, “What did you need me for?”

“Oh,” Yasha says, shaking her head back into focus, “My shirt has a zipper in the back, I can’t get it up all the way.”

“That’s what he said,” Beau naturally responds. She would normally give Yasha shit about the whole secret outfit thing somewhat backfiring on her, but Beau is too focused on the fact that she has to zip up Yasha’s top.

It’s then that Beau sees the back of Yasha’s jacket. It’s not a normal leather jacket, this one has a beautifully detailed painting of pink flowers on the back that travels down the sleeve. Beau recognizes this as Jester’s work.

“Did Jess paint this for you?”

“I guess, I haven’t gotten the chance to ask her about it yet,” Yasha responds turning over her shoulder to look at Beau, “It’s beautiful isn’t it?”

“I didn't peg you for a flower type of girl.”

Yasha smiles sadly and responds, “I didn’t care for them much until I met Zuala. She was fascinated with them. She began a collection in our dorm on the windowsill where she would replant flowers she found around. I find myself still picking flowers when I’m out and about for her.”

“That’s really sweet Yash,” Beau says as Yasha takes off the leather jacket, revealing her barely zipped top and pulling her hair to the side.

Beau’s fingers shake as she begins to zip it up. She’s trying way too hard not to touch Yasha’s skin, scared the contact would set her heart on fire. She manages to do it up the rest of the way by only grabbing the bottom of the shirt. After, she lets out a breath she didn't know she was holding. She thinks she sees Yasha do the same.

“Um, thank you Beau.”

“Yeah yeah yeah cool cool cool no problem. Hey let’s get back into the club they’re probably waiting on us to start."

“Ah yes, that’s a good idea,” Yasha responds, grabbing Beau’s hand and leading them back into the club. Beau’s heart begins to flutter when their hands meet, and it doesn’t stop.

* * *

Jester gives the instructions for the scene. Ideally, it shouldn’t take more than three hours. The scene itself was only supposed to take about five minutes, but they needed multiple angles and the utmost consistency within the several shots.

This was the pinnacle of the film, where the title was coming to fruition. While Fjord and Avantika’s characters are dancing together, the imaginative girl begins seeing bees floating about. This is the first time in the movie that the boy sees the world as she does. Beau knows it’s important to Jester that every shot, every glance, every emotion on their faces came through as she envisioned it.

What’s not quite as important in this vision though, is the extras. This is a relief to Yasha, who had revealed to Beau last night that she wasn’t super comfortable with this style of dancing. Still, they manage to find a groove in the repetitive techno track. They keep a respectable amount of distance apart, dancing together without making direct contact for a majority of the time.

“It’s been a while since we’ve done this,” Yasha says, recalling their final dance together.

“Yeah, I did say we’d dance again, and as we know, I’m never wrong,” Beau jokes.

“Oh yeah... never wrong,” Yasha teases back.

“Mhm. Never.”

“What about when you said Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie would be together forever?”

“Don’t you bring Brangelina into this,” Beau challenges, reigniting her old passion about the couple.

Yasha laughs and returns to simply dancing with Beau, and Beau does the same.

They’re nearly to the end of the filming process, and Beau is proud of herself for keeping it together so well, which is exactly when Jester decides to give the extras some more directions.

“Ok so,” she begins, “Extras I need you guys to get a little closer together for this part. We’re filming the wide shot so I really need to believe that you all are couples who are into each other so we can contrast that with the awkwardness of the protagonists.”

Beau doesn’t think about the implications of this at first. She takes her friend’s words seriously and pulls Yasha in closer by the waist before her brain has time to catch up.

The music begins again, and they start dancing together, impossibly close. Beau readjusted her hands to Yasha’s shoulders and Yasha put her hands on Beau’s waist. Beau can’t help but notice how low Yasha’s hands are. They aren’t _scandalously_ low, but it makes Beau blush regardless.

As they continue to dance, somehow they end up getting closer, and closer together. Beau doesn’t think she’s breathing anymore. Her heart is beating out of her chest and she can’t do anything but stare into Yasha’s eyes, and Yasha is staring right back.

If someone had taken a picture right then, it’d look like the moment before two people kiss. But, they stay in their stalemate, swaying their hips together as if no one else was around.

_Yasha’s eyes are so beautiful,_ Beau thinks, _Yasha’s beautiful_ , she adds. She lets herself escape in the moment until memories of being twelve years old come rushing back to her.

She remembers the same confusion of how she felt, the same yearning to be closer to Yasha, the same love in her heart.

_Wait, love?_ Beau thinks. _Oh shit. I’m fucked._

Beau doesn’t think she’s been in love with Yasha this whole time, but it definitely wasn’t hard to fall back into it once they were reunited. Twelve year old Beau refused to think about her best friend like that, but now she’s grown up.

She wouldn’t necessarily call them best friends anymore, but Yasha is undoubtedly the most important person in Beau’s life. Her love has grown up with her and evolved into something deeper. It doesn’t change the fact that Beau has always been terrified about her future, and her “real-life” getting closer everyday. But, she realizes that the prospect of growing old with Yasha actually comforts her. In fact, she doesn’t think of anything she could want more.

_Fuck man, I’m really in deep_ , she thinks to herself, somehow managing to keep a straight face while still dancing with Yasha. Her brain is going a million miles a second as she gazes into Yasha’s eyes. This time, she doesn’t look away. 

Beau had completely forgotten they were filming a movie. When Jester shouts out, “That’s a wrap people!” Beau physically jumps out of Yasha’s arms. She manages not to let out a yelp, but takes a few seconds to compose herself.

“That was fun,” Yasha says.

“Yeah that was really nice. I missed dancing with you. I know we only did it one time, but I wanna keep doing it.”

“I would like that too. I think I’ve only ever enjoyed dancing if it was with you.”

The girls smile at each other until Beau can’t handle the palpable tension anymore.

“You can head back to the hotel. I’m gonna hand back for a sec to talk to Jess.” Yasha nods in response, and Beau’s eyes follow her out of the club. She didn’t actually need to talk to Jester, she just needed a second to catch her breath and lower her heart rate.

She waits five minutes, and then exits the club, but in the opposite direction of the hotel. Instead, she makes her way towards The Blushing Tankard and stops at the flower vendor. She asks for the best flower necklace he’s got, but before he gets the chance she points one out herself. It’s a woven string of purple and turquoise lilies, and it reminds her of Yasha’s eyes. She pays for it and walks back to her hotel with a pep in her step.

  
  


When she gets back, Yasha is in the shower, so she waits, sitting on the bed, just thinking about the taller girl and the gift she’s ready to give her.

When Yasha emerges out of the bathroom, once again in her normal clothes, and Beau wastes no time in presenting her the flower necklace.

“I got this for you,” Beau says, extending it out towards Yasha. She realizes that maybe she should have spent her time thinking of a more tactful and sweet way to do it, but it’s too late for that now.

“Beau, that’s really thoughtful of you. It's so beautiful. You know, lilies were Zuala’s favorite flower, she would have loved these,” Yasha responds, putting the necklace on.

_Oh yeah,_ Beau thinks, _Zuala. The love of her life who’s dead. I’m an asshole._

Beau only responds with a nod and a smile, her heart aching for Yasha to love her back. She grabs her clothes to change and packs up her overnight bag, and they enter the bus together for the ride back to college.

She spends most of the ride staring out the window, just thinking. Yasha seems perfectly content, while Beau internally is tearing herself apart. Eventually she reaches a conclusion.

_Basically, I can’t make a move on Yasha. That would be really insensitive and I’m not a complete dick. If she likes me she likes me, if she doesn't, she doesn't. Ball is in her court. I’ll wait as long as she needs._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's Llyl's amazing art!
> 
> https://llylandrill.tumblr.com/post/632062107769307136/if-someone-had-taken-a-picture-right-then-itd


	5. To hold you so close

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Beau is pining hard after Yasha, but wants to be respectful of her grief. So, she waits for Yasha to make a move.

It’s been two months since filming wrapped in Hupperdook, and the editing, composing, and SFX for “Hello, Bees,” was finally finished. The premiere was only a few hours away and the friends now known (among themselves) as The Mighty Nein were bubbling with excitement.

Beau, however, was equal parts excited and anxious. She had repressed her feelings for Yasha since that night, and she knows seeing the nightclub scene will make her feel all types of ways all over again. Actually, to be fair, she hadn’t been able to completely repress it because she told Jester about her feelings when they got home after wrapping.

_“Ok so maybe I have a little itty bitty tiny crush on Yasha,” Beau rushed out as soon as the girls entered their apartment._

_“I KNEW IT! Wait so you haven’t kissed her yet?”_

_“What? No!”_

_“Honestly I kinda assumed you guys were secretly dating that was kinda the vibes I was getting lately.”_

_“Jess, she’s still mourning Zuala.”_

_“Ok but just because she’s mourning a loss doesn’t mean she can’t love again”_

_“I don’t know, she really loved her.”_

_“That is true, but love isn’t mutually exclusive. You can love different people in different ways at different times.”_

_“Do you think she actually likes me back?”_

_“Oh my god yes Beau the way she looks at you oh my god.”_

Beau is pulled out of her memories as her name was called at the salon. Veth had decided to treat the gang to a spa day to get all pampered up for the premiere.

As Beau makes her way to her hair dresser’s chair, she passes Yasha getting her hair blow dried. Yasha looks completely overwhelmed by the amount of attention she’s receiving, so Beau wiggles her eyebrows at the girl to make her laugh. It works and Beau’s heart flutters.

For better or for worse, the girls had gotten even closer over the past two months. They didn’t only see each other at night to study and practice anymore. Now, they spent almost every waking moment together. 

The whole friend group has noticed the strange tension and lingering looks shared between the two, but they never make comments in public. Emphasis on in public. When Beau is alone with one of them, they will make sure to tease her about her obvious crush and beg her to just ask Yasha out already. She just doesn’t know if Yasha is getting the same treatment.

Even Molly, who Beau thought didn’t like her, made a comment one day.

_“If you hurt her, I will kill you myself,” he had said. Beau would normally take that with a grain of salt, but there was none of the usual joking undertones in his voice._

So, Beau went about her days with Yasha by her side, not making any moves. She knew she was running out of time, with the movie premiere tonight and graduation only three weeks away. 

It takes a few hours, but the whole squad is gussied up and ready for their big night. Veth had even gotten them a limo to escort them to the venue. They’re waiting outside, all ready to pack into the car, but Beau can’t seem to find Yasha. Figuring the girl will make it in eventually, Beau shrugs and jumps into the limo with her friends. She took a second to do a look over of the group. Everyone looked absolutely amazing.

Beau particularly loved her outfit. After passing her certification exam, she decided she could splurge and buy herself an especially nice outfit for the premier. So, she got a well tailored slate gray suit with a cobalt blue ascot. She couldn’t wait to see what Yasha was wearing.

After a few minutes Yasha finally gets in the car. Beau’s breath leaves her body all together. If she had died in that moment, her final gaze being on Yasha, her soul could rest peacefully.

Yasha was wearing a fitted black evening gown with silver embroidery. It the neckline goes along her chest, and the long sleeves are open at the end, showing off her tattoo. 

Beau thinks she’s the most beautiful thing she’s ever seen.

Yasha notices her staring though, and says, “Uh Beau, you look very nice.”

“Yeah you look fucking hot,” Beau says, eyes wide and mouth agape, but managing to not get too flustered. Yasha is hot, it’s just a fact.

“You look very beautiful as well,” Yasha replies, now being the flustered one. They stare at each other, not saying anything more until Fjord can’t handle it any longer.

“So anyways...” he begins, desperate to change the conversation. Beau can’t help but notice the smirk on Jester’s face, but what she didn’t expect was to find a similar smug expression on Molly's.

Those two have gotten strangely close in the past two months, but Beau decided not to question it, scared of what the answer might be.

The rest of the night goes by in a blur. It wasn’t a Hollywood release by any means. There was no red carpet or press, but it did have a pretty dope afterparty planned. All that mattered to Beau was that Jester was happy with the outcome. Fuck the critics and the audience, Jester’s happiness is what matters the most.

Beau sat in between Jester and Yasha in the theater, and as the nightclub scene got closer and closer, Beau got more and more nervous.

She remembers the thoughts flooding through her brain that night, they’ve consumed her ever since, but it would most certainly be implied in the film that the extras dancing together were couples. She wants to be with Yasha so badly, and seeing that future on the screen will make her want it even more.

The scene finally starts playing on the screen. There is a sweeping shot of the club before the camera focuses on Fjord and Avantika, but Beau swears that the shot lingers on her and Yasha longer than the others. 

What surprises her is the look on Yasha’s face. Beau had never understood why Jester claimed Yasha looked at her with adoration, Beau just thought Yasha looked at her. Right now, seeing it from another perspective, Beau begins to understand what she meant. Beau remembers her rush of emotions in that moment, and frankly, you can see it on her face. But, Beau sees the same look on Yasha’s face. Both girls are staring at each other and only each other, eyes wide and lips slightly parted.

As soon as the scene continues, Yasha and Beau turn to each other in their seats, and stare at each other as they did in the movie before them. No words are needed to convey what they’re both feeling. For the first time, Beau really believes that Yasha actually reciprocates her feelings. Beau wants nothing more than to kiss Yasha, here and now, but they’re in public, in a theater, for Jester’s movie. 

_It’s not the time,_ Beau thinks, _but it sure as hell will be soon._

The movie ends to a roaring applause from the theater. Jester is overloaded with happiness, pride, and joy, and Beau forces her to stand up and take several bows. The entire cast and crew has tears in their eyes, proud of their hard work coming to fruition in front of their eyes.

Jester’s mother brings her a bouquet of flowers as they exit the theater, and the whole gang makes their way to the afterparty.

Once they arrive, Beau doesn’t feel like drinking. She wants to be sober tonight and remember every detail. She notices Yasha chooses not to drink as well. Even though Jester is the life of the party, Beau’s eyes don’t leave Yasha all night. She can feel something bubbling to the surface between them and she doesn’t want to fuck it up. They stay right by each other’s side for the whole night, enjoying each other’s company.

Even though they feel comfortable with each other, Yasha looks uncomfortable being at the party. People keep coming up to her and complementing her scoring. While Beau is beaming, proud of her friend, Yasha is incredibly awkward with the compliments.

After an hour and a half or so passes, Beau makes her way over to Jester, but before she has the chance to start conversation, Jester says, “Just leave with her already,” with a smile.

“What I don’t wanna-”

“Yes you do Beau, you know you can’t lie to me.”

“I- I’m sorry Jess.”

“Oh my gosh don’t apologize Beau literally I would love it if you guys could just kiss already.”

“I’ll see you later,” Beau says, already turning away.

“Or maybe you won’t,” Jester calls after her, wiggling her eyebrows.

When Beau returns to Yasha’s side, she wastes no time in getting to the point.

“Wanna get out of here,” Beau says. Although it could easily be interpreted as presumptuous, Beau says it with genuine concern, knowing Yasha is growing more and more uncomfortable as the night progresses.

“Please,” Yasha responds and Beau offers her hand out towards the taller girl, which she gladly accepts. Beau’s heart starts beating twenty times faster at the contact, and she thinks she could get used to this exhilarating rush of emotions whenever she’s around Yasha.

They make their way out of the hall while Beau calls them an Uber. They wait together, still holding hands, but not talking. The whole ride back to Yasha’s dorm is spent in comfortable silence, with their hands still joined together.

They finally arrive, and Beau makes sure to make a gesture out of opening the door for Yasha, shoving the door open on her own side and running around to open it for Yasha on the other. They walk towards the entry to the hall, hesitating before they walk in.

They stand facing each other, staring into each other’s eyes for far too long. Beau feels her heart skip a beat when their eyes lock together.

_Please say something, please say something,_ is all Beau can think. She wants more with Yasha, but she promised herself she wouldn’t make the first move. Beau is ready to take that leap, she just hopes Yasha is willing to catch her when she falls.

The tension could be cut like butter between the two. A few unassuming students pass by, walking completely around so as to not interrupt their moment. Neither girls notice. They are too wrapped up in the other’s presence and too high on the adrenaline of the night to say goodbye.

“Beau,” Yasha begins. Beau feels her face flush. She loves the way Yasha says her name, it’s like she can feel the care just from being addressed.

Yasha continues, “Can I-” she stops, too nervous to finish the sentence.

“It’s ok Yash,” Beau comforts, “Can you…”

“Can I kiss you,” Yasha says and suddenly it feels like the gravity between them has grown exponentially and nothing could stop them from coming together. Beau manages to nod while their eyes are still open and leans up to kiss Yasha who meets her halfway.

If Beau thought the fireworks in Hupperdook were impressive, they couldn’t even compare to the fireworks going off inside her as they kissed. It’s sweet and tender, Beau melts into Yasha’s embrace as she deepens the kiss, needing more now that she’s gotten a taste. She’s kissed plenty of girls in her day, but none of them, not even Tori, feel as real and special as kissing Yasha. She feels like she’s simultaneously floating and grounded, here and somewhere else entirely. Kissing Yasha makes her feel like she’s entered a new plane of existence that no one can see unless they’re this happy.

They break after several moments, staring at each other like they did before, but now breathing more heavily.

Yasha speaks first, “Woah.”

“Ditto,” Beau manages to get out, thoughts filled only with their kiss.

“Wanna sit for a second?” Yasha asks, gesturing towards a nearby bench.

“Yeah yeah yeah that would be good,” Beau responds, her head spinning.

They walk over to the bench together, not holding hands, but maintaining contact slightly as they sit down.

“I’ve wanted to do that for a really long time,” Yasha says, looking down into her lap.

“Same.”

“I didn’t think you felt the same. Molly swore on it, but I couldn’t let myself hope.”

“What changed?”

“Caduceus talked to me. He’s too insightful for his own good. After Hupperdook we talked about how I need to keep moving forward. Let myself be happy. I know it’s been two months since then, but I needed to make peace for a bit longer. I’m sorry I kept you waiting.”

“Yasha, it’s you. I’d wait forever if it meant we could be together eventually.”

“So you do want to be together?” 

“Of course I’m kinda totally… ready for that,” Beau responds, choosing to change her wording at the last moment. She knew she was in love with Yasha, but the time and place for that to develop and come to fruition was not now.

“Me too,” Yasha says now looking up to Beau, who has a stupid grin on her face. Yasha immediately matches it with a smile of her own and Beau wants to kiss her again, but she knows the moment is better left chaste. There will be time for more with Yasha, but this is just the beginning, or rather a new beginning, of their relationship together.

“I should probably head back to my apartment,” Beau says, standing up.

“Let me know when you get back safe,” Yasha responds, following the girl’s lead. They don’t quite know how to leave each other like this, so Beau decides to play it safe and pull Yasha into a hug. She holds her close, not wanting to let go, but knowing tonight must come to an end for tomorrow's adventures to begin. 

“See you tomorrow,” Beau quickly says as they separate, and she rushes off into the main walkways of campus smiling more than she had in a long time.


	6. Epilogue: That famous happy ending

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Beau and Yasha get their cheesy happy ending.

Beau had a long day at work. One of the girls on the Nicodranas Nitros soccer team tore her ACL at practice, so Beau spent all day in the hospital with her and formulating a recovery plan for the girl.

She doesn’t get home until nine o’clock at night, but the good news is that she gets to come home to her beautiful girlfriend waiting for her.

She practically runs through the entrance of their apartment complex, wanting to get home as soon as possible. She shoves her key into the lock and pushes the door open, making her way past the living room and towards the kitchen, where Yasha is stirring a pot on the stove.

“Hi Beau, I’m making mac and cheese,” Yasha says, pointing to the pot on the stove. Normally Beau does the cooking, but on nights like these Yasha has a few emergency meals she can make for the two of them.

Beau immediately walks over and hugs her girlfriend, melting into her comforting embrace.

“Kiri is gonna be ok, right?” Yasha asks.

“It’s a horrible injury, and will take several months to recover after it’s healed, but yeah. She won’t play this season, but she’s only a freshman so she has time. How’s your thesis coming?” Beau asks, knowing Yasha has been working on it all day.

“Pretty good, I’m nearly finished,” Yasha replies. She’s been working on her Master’s of Music Composition at UofN for the past two years, and it’s all culminating in her final composition and thesis.

Beau finally opens her eyes and looks at the stove.

She sees the water boiling with the noodles, but the water is orange.

“Uh Yash,” Beau begins, still in her arms.

“Yeah?”

“Did you put the cheese powder in the water?”

“Yeah it’s mac and cheese.”

“You’re supposed to do that step after you drain the noodles.”

“Oh no,” Yasha says, releasing Beau and walking over to her monstrosity. “I’m sorry,” she continues.

“It’s fine Yash, this is just what happens when you rely on a meal plan for all four years,” Beau teases.

“It was convenient,” Yasha defended.

Beau laughs, “Wanna order Thai food?”

“Yes please,”Yasha replies, taking out her phone to order their usual, pad thai and dumplings. After a few moments, she says, “It’ll be here in 30.”

Beau starts to make her way over to their couch, but hears Yasha say, “Hey Alexa, play So Close from Enchanted.” Beau turns around to look at her girlfriend and Yasha is extending her arm out to Beau. Beau takes it and Yasha pulls her in a close embrace, grabbing her around the waist and swaying together.

“You remember that it was _this_ song?” Beau asks in a hushed tone, remembering the sixth grade dance.

“Of course,” Yasha responds softly, “Our dance together meant everything to me.”

“I think I like this better though. Just us here and now.”

“Me too,” Yasha agrees, “Sorry again about dinner.”

“Yash it’s ok, you know I fucking love Thai food.”

“But I wanted to do something nice for you after the day you’ve had.”

Beau stops their swaying for a moment so she can look Yasha in her beautiful, mismatched eyes.

“Yasha,” she begins in a serious tone, “This is perfect. I’m so happy just being with you.”

Yasha smiles, and pulls Beau back into her close, letting the both of them get lost in the music.

Beau really listens to the lyrics for the first time as the song comes to an end.

_This one's not pretend_

_Let's go on dreaming_

_For we know we are_

_So close, so close_

_And still so far_

It ends rather melancholy, but still hopeful. To Beau, they couldn’t be closer, their relationship had a few bumps along the way of course, but they worked through their problems and always came out stronger for it. The final line, _And still so far,_ rings out in her head. She thinks of the ring she has hidden away in her desk at work. She’s ready to ask Yasha for her hand in marriage, but wants the proposal to be perfect. They’re planning on taking a vacation to Rumblecusp Resort after Yasha graduates, and Beau wants to do it then. She’s seen pictures on the website of a beautiful cliffside location, and she knows that’s where she’ll pop the question.

They keep swaying together, long after the song has ended, just enjoying their intimacy and shared love. Beau is no longer scared of her future, knowing Yasha will always be a part of it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you everyone for reading! I wanna give another huge shoutout of appreciation to my partner in the event, Llyl. Working with her was so much fun and I love how our creation has turned out.
> 
> Another shoutout to the Cracklepop Mods for creating and organizing the event. Like I said this was so much fun and I really appreciate yall's hard work.
> 
> Other than that, if you love Beauyasha as much as me give me a follow on tumblr @nervousgaylaughter aa well as Llyl @llylandrill


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